Multiclient
and Special Studies
In 2005, iGR
launched and completed several multiclient
studies to measure, define, analyze and
forecast the opportunity in key wireless
industry topics: Tweens; WiFi, WiMAX,
EV-DO Adoption; and RIM BlackBerry User
Profile.
Tweens
In the U.S. alone, there is a considerable
opportunity for mobile operators and service
providers to sell wireless products and
services to the "tween" market. For example,
of the 26 million tweens in 2009, iGR
forecasts that 4 million will be using
their own phones. But of the 11.44 million
10-12 year olds in 2009, 3.57 million
will have cell phones.
In the higher income families, penetration
will be higher. In 2006, 1.6 million of
the 8 million 11-12 year olds will have
cell phones. The goal of this multiclient
study was to determine the need, desire
and receptivity toward wireless services
targeted at the tween market. To concretize
these drivers, iGR
devised a survey and resultant analysis
and forecasts that would address the following
areas:
- Consumer profile by age, race, income,
education, age of children, etc.
- Current use of wireless devices and
services by the parent and tween
- Current use of mobile data service
including ringtones, messaging, gaming,
web access, etc., by the parent and
tween
- Current barriers preventing the adoption
and use of wireless services by tweens
- Potential of the tween wireless applications
market, including but not limited to
messaging, gaming, music, photos and
other data services
- Interest in various handset designs,
as well as requirements for a tween-specific
device
- Parental concerns for tweens using
mobile devices including school rules,
safety, applications, SPAM, etc.
- Forecasted size of the opportunity
for tween services, applications and
devices - this will include music, games,
photos, graphics, ring tones and messaging
- Types of devices required for tweens
with forecasts split by network technology,
form factor, price and other considerations
- Revenues associated with each type
of service.
WiFi, WiMAX,
EV-DO
In May 2005, iGR
launched a multiclient study to determine
the degree of business adoption of data
WWANs. Some of the unanswered questions
driving this report included:
- Will enterprises prefer WiFi services to
EV-DO and what must the mobile operators do
to increase the adoption of EV-DO
- What will be the level of usage of WiFi services once
the EV-Do networks are deployed?
- Will enterprises prefer EV-DO over WiFi
services and how will their WiFi use be impacted
with the adoption of EV-DO?
What will be the level of usage of EV-DO once
the networks are deployed?
- What must the WiFi service providers do
to combat the impact of EV-DO?
- How will the WiMax "wild card" affect uptake
of EV-DO? How will WiMax affect ongoing usage
of WiFi?
The goal of the report was to determine
the critical success factors driving the
adoption of the various types of broadband
wireless network. To determine this, iGR
devised a study that would:
- Determine the current level of use
of WiFi services and EV-DO networks
in the large enterprise, including splits
by vertical industry and occupation
- Identify the critical success factors
for paid WiFi and EV-DO services once
EV-DO is available nationwide
- Determine the impact EV-DO will have
on WiFi services
- Determine how the use of WiFi services
may slow the adoption of EV-DO in the
large enterprise
- Provide an overview of how WiFi services
and EV-DO services are used within the
organization
- Determine how WiFi usage will change
with the nationwide availability of
EV-DO and, eventually, WiMax
- Determine the critical success factors
surrounding the deployment and uptake
of WiMax
- Determine the relative value and pricing
for WiFi, EV-DO and WiMax services and
what price points each service needs
to adopt to be successful
- Recommend to enterprise device OEMs
(laptop OEMs, PDA OEMs, smartphone OEMs)
if and when to incorporate embedded
EV-DO and/or WiMax capabilities
- Determine the decision and purchase
criteria used to determine WiFi and
EV-DO service choices. Assess relevance
of these criteria to adoption of WiMax
services
RIM BlackBerry
User Loyalty Study
There is little doubt that Research in Motion
(RIM) has enjoyed considerable success with the
push-email experience the company delivers across
a wide range of its BlackBerry devices and back-end
server platform. In early 2005, RIM announced
that the email service using its technology had
more than three million users, and although the
majority of those users are in North America (and
on one network), penetration is increasing in
overseas markets.
Things are not completely rosy for RIM, however,
given the recent, well-publicized service failures,
other device OEMs launching competing designs,
mobile email vendors signing agreements with RIM's
carrier customers, and the company's ongoing legal
dispute with NTP.
To better understand these and other factors
at work, iGR
conducted a study in the fall of 2005 to
clearly define the profile of the BlackBerry
user and identify how loyal they truly are
to the device, platform and service. Specifically,
this targeted study:
- Profiled the BlackBerry users, including
occupation, income, gender, race, other devices
used, age, etc.
- Determined the current loyalty of BlackBerry
users to their devices, email service and
mobile operator
- Determined how many BlackBerry devices the
typical user has had, why they changed, what
they paid for their devices and how long they
plan to keep them
- Determined where the typical BlackBerry
user obtains their device - from their employer,
personal purchase, etc.
- Determined the BlackBerry user's awareness
of competing devices (such as the Treo), perceptions
of those devices and perceived strengths and
weaknesses of the BlackBerry device (including
the 7100)
- Determined the BlackBerry user's willingness
to switch to a competing device, when shown
images and descriptions of newer designs,
such as the Motorola Q, and the critical success
factors for newer designs
- Determined the applications desired by the
BlackBerry user that the device is currently
unable to support
- Determined the critical success factors for
churning the BlackBerry user to a competing
mobile email service.
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